Need help building a gaming rig

[mlz200]

Hello i am new to these forums, i am thinking about building a new gaming rig, for games like the upcoming Crysis 2 and many other games.

This is my first time building a gaming computer, and i was wondering if you guys could help me out, and tell me if every thing i have picked so far is good enough, or if i need to change some parts to make it better, the money is no problem.


Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Graphics Card: 2x EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Power Supply: SILVERSTONE ST1000-P 1000W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH P67 Socket 1155 P67 Core (i am not sure about the motherboard, so if you guys can help me out it would be great.)

Cooling Fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL

Hard Drive: Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5 inch Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive HD103SJ

Maybe you guys could tell me what optical drive to buy, i dont need a bluray drive.

And maybe an SSD.

 

[MadAdmiral]

It actually looks pretty good. I'd probably trade the Hyper 212+ for a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100 on Newegg).

I'd rather have the Asus P8P67 Pro. I think the Sabertooth boards are overpriced.

You could probably also afford to step up to an 80+ Gold PSU. I'd look at Silverstone's 1000W 80+, Corsair's AX 1200W, and Antec's HCP 1200W. They're all closer to $300 though, so I don't blame you if you don't go for them.

As for an optical drive, get the cheapest SATA DVD burner you can find. Brand doesn't matter at all.

As for SSDs, I'd recommend waiting for a bit. I don't see the value in them right now when the 120 GB ones are still around $200. I'd wait for that to drop to around $150 or for OCZ's new Vertex 3 units to come out.

 

[aznshinobi]

Check out my siggy for recommendations on everything but the graphics. It seems as though your pretty set on the 580s but I think you'll see that the suggestions for everything will be pretty reasonable.

Mad has pretty good suggestions as well.

 

[mlz200]

Okay thanks guys ill look into it.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

For twin 580's I'd want a full tower rig. Other than the 1500 watt model, the Silverstone ST series generally garners only an 8.0 performance rating on jonnyguru.com I'd want a 9.5 or above

Antec DF-85 ($160) w/ CP-1000 ($150)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371036

HAF-X ($200) w/ CorsairHX1000 ($215)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

I have built w/ both of the above pairs, pretty comparable but ignoring price and noise, I prefer the Antec combo. With price and noise in the picture, choice is easy....it's over $100 cheaper and noticeably quieter when running..

MoBo / CPU is a great combo....see Guru3D MoBo review for overclocking guide.

Your cooler is way under classed for the rest of that rig. I'd use the Scythe Mugen 2 or one of the following mentioned here:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=694&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=5

Priced to compete with high-end air coolers, the Kühler 620 offers similar performance and a lower noise level. It's the first compact liquid cooler I've tested that can honestly be considered as competition for the likes of the Cooler Master V6 GT, Prolimatech Megahalems, and Thermalright Venomous X.

Scythe Mugen 2 w/ Shin Etsu TIM ($45)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080

Antec Kuhler 620 Self Contained Water Cooling System ($80)
http://store.antec.com/Product/cooling-cpu_cooler/kuhler-h2o-620/0-761345-77085-9.aspx

Venemous X RT w/ Shin Etsu ($80)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109030

Prolimatech Megahalems w/ Shin Etsu ($92 w/ Fan)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835706036

Coolermaster v6 GT w/ Shin Etsu ($55)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089

Here's how they all stand up when fitted w/ same fan

Thermaltake Jing 69.7 +11.0
Corsair H50 68.1 +9.4
Coolit Vantage A.L.C. 67.8 +9.1
Corsair H70 64.7 +6.0
Coolit ECO A.L.C. 64.3 +5.6
Cooler Master V6 GT 59.5 +0.8
Prolimatech Super Mega 59.4 +0.7
Antec Kühler H2O 620 58.7 +0.0
Thermalright Venomous X 58.0 -0.7

As for the RAM, that's pretty good price .... $85. Most peeps use DDR3-1600 which is a bit more money and the GSkill equivalent would be $100. I don't know how tall they are but make sure those fins won't interfere w/ ya CPU cooler..... especially if ya expand in the future. Of course if ya use the Kuhler, then that won't matter. Low profile CAS 7's are a bit pf a premium at the moment at $155

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226178

This optical has a coupon code for free shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

For an SSD, here's killer deal:

$185 Vertex 2 120 GB thru 02/22
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227590

 

[mlz200]

This is how the system looks like now.

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Graphics Card: 2x EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Power Supply: CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Cooling Fan: Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Hard Drive: Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5 inch Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive HD103SJ

Optical Drive: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM


But i am still not sure about what cpu cooler i should get, i looked at this link below, and all of those coolers you guys linked, anyone who could recommend me one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-608-018&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

And thanks to all of you for trying to help me out with my system, i really appreciate it.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'll be honest, I hate the HAF X recommendation. It's extremely overpriced. As for needing a full tower, you really don't ever need one unless you've got a ton of SATA devices. Many of the higher end mid towers will fit even the largest GPUs. The HAF 922 is plenty big enough. Even if it wasn't, you could just step up to the HAF 932 or Antec 1200 or similar for only a little more than the 922. You don't need to spend $200 on a case.

The Scythe Mugen 2 is a great value cooler. I would say that the Noctua NH-D14 is the best performance cooler. You'd do fine with either of them.

Also, I hate the Mushkin RAM recommendation for CAS Latency 7 sticks. The timings on their 4 GB sticks are all over the place (7-8-9). I'd prefer either the G.Skill Ripjaws X or Ripjaws. They've got more consistent timings (7-8-7), use a little less voltage (1.6V vs. 1.65V) and are $5 cheaper. I also think they look better too, but that doesn't matter in the slightest.